Diversity Recruitment Strategy
Companies are beginning to see the benefits of a diverse workplace. Greater innovation, better results, and higher returns are all observed by business owners with diverse teams. However, figuring out how to find people with different experiences can be difficult. That’s why it’s important to have a diverse hiring strategy.
What is diversity recruitment?
Diversity in the workplace is simply the idea that a company’s employees should reflect the society in which the company exists. This means hiring people from different backgrounds and experiences, different genders, races and religions. A diverse workplace not only includes people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, but also people with disabilities and people with different sexual orientations.
Diverse hiring is a strategy you can use to find and hire diverse teams. It’s about creating a hiring process that eliminates conscious and unconscious biases so that all applicants have an equal chance of getting a job. Diversity recruitment strategies are still merit-based and aim to find the right person for the job. You can even do it, but it can go unnoticed if hiring bias exists.
In general, diversity can be divided into congenital and acquired. Inherent diversity includes race, gender, age, and other characteristics that people are born with. Acquired diversity includes things acquired over time, such as education, experience, skills, and values. Both types of diversity are essential in the modern workplace.
Why Diversity Matters in an Organization
Diversity in the workplace is often cited as a moral requirement for companies. People with certain backgrounds have traditionally been excluded from some industries or out of work altogether. Diverse hiring is a step towards equality in the workplace.
Taking this moral stance has tangible benefits for the organization. First, today’s consumers want to do business with companies that share their values. Customers who learn that your workforce is diverse are more likely to purchase your products and services. This is probably one of the reasons he says 85% of CEOs say increasing employee diversity improves bottom line.
A more direct impact on corporate bottom lines could come from the increase in innovation seen in diverse workplaces. There, broader perspectives and backgrounds can lead to new ideas. Research shows that a diverse workplace makes him 1.7 times more likely to be an innovation leader in that industry, paving the way for new technologies, strategies and customer bases. By openly implementing a diversity hiring strategy, you can attract more diverse candidates and increase your chances of finding great employees. Diverse hiring should be an integral part of an employer’s talent acquisition plan, as 70% of job seekers now say diversity is important when choosing a job.
Create a diversity hiring strategy
A strong diversity hiring strategy should cover all aspects of your business. Most HR work happens as part of the hiring process, but momentum must come from the top. Without a willingness on the part of leaders to explore new recruiting methods and prioritize inclusive workplaces, attempts to embrace diversity can fail.
Therefore, the first step in any diversity hiring strategy is to define your goals and document them. Once your goals are set, you can begin your path to a diverse workplace.
As part of designing your plan, it is important to determine who will be responsible for implementation. This should go beyond HR. Instead, try to create an environment where everyone is responsible for diversity. Make sure everyone, from department heads to project leads to team members, understands the goals of the plan and the steps they can take to help the company succeed. You should also identify any barriers your company may have in hiring a diverse workforce and take steps to overcome them. One such stumbling block is the lack of understanding of why and how HR team members are trying new approaches to hiring. To overcome this barrier, you need to organize diversity training for key members of your hiring team and provide them with information on how to identify unconscious bias.
